Vindication
by Gemini14
Summary: Spoiler warning! What do you think V may have been thinking before and after his final runin with Creedy and his Fingermen? What could he have been feeling? Read and review, please!


Vindication

V froze when Evey's lips brushed those of his mask; all thought seeming to leave him for that brief moment. For the briefest of instances, twenty years worth of hatred and vengeance were brushed aside by a love so genuine that he didn't quite know how to react. And, for reasons unknown to him, his heart was racing; moreso than when he'd been fighting against his adversaries, or even when he'd first rescued Evey just a year before.

"_Have I, in fact, fallen in love? How could it have been possible?_" V wondered, as he gazed in startled silence at Evey; who now stepped back and looked up at him with loving eyes. Eyes that repeated word for word what she really wanted to do; run away with him.

"_I can't_….._We can't. I have spent too many years desiring only revenge, to be given the chance to love now_…._And a life on the run isn't what I would wish for her, either._" V mused, sadly, his heart aching at the choice he was now faced with. A choice he had to make.

"Goodbye." V murmured, before turning and rushing off into the darkness; determined to make his last deadline, no matter what.

………………………………….

Every step was torture, as V slowly made his way back to where he'd left Evey not even an hour before. At first, he hadn't known what was driving him; giving him the strength to walk what seemed an insurmountable distance between where he'd killed Creedy and the Fingermen with him, and where a young woman now waited. Then , it occurred to him; the reason for the strength was the young woman waiting for him. He knew he was dying, and yet, he desired what every person longed for before death claimed them; a loved one by his side to see him off.

"_Evey_….._Evey_…._Must return to Evey_….." V silently chanted, struggling towards the wan light of the Victoria line station he'd rigged to deliver the explosives to Parliament…..and, more importantly, to Evey herself. She looked up when she heard him coming, and stood as he got even closer.

"V?" she called, her voice sounding to him like the most beautiful music he'd ever heard. He noticed how her eyes lit up when she saw him, and as a relieved smile appeared on her face; and it saddened him that she was about to learn what he knew was happening to him.

"You came back." Evey said, voicing her relief and joy at seeing him return from the murky depths.

"I was hoping you would still be……" V started to say, before he felt his knees begin to buckle.

"_Here._" V finished, mentally, as he collapsed before the horrified eyes of the woman he loved.

"_So, it is true_…._I have fallen in love_…." V thought, glad that his face was hidden beneath his mask when Evey rushed over to him and turned him onto his back; the movement sending stabs of pain through him and forcing him to wince.

"We've got to stop your bleeding." Evey muttered, with desperation in her voice when she'd noticed the blood on her hands and realized how severely he was injured.

"N-no……Please don't…..I'm finished…..and glad of it…." V gasped, as he struggled to breathe; gripping her arm as strongly as he could.

"Don't say that." Evey said, as she propped him up on her knee in a futile effort to help him breathe.

"I told you…..only the truth….." V managed, as breathing became a little easier for only a moment, then worsened again.

"_My lungs are too badly injured to last much longer_….." V realized, grimly; returning to himself when he heard Evey say something that made him want to live.

"I don't want you to die." Evey sobbed, the words giving V the strength to tell her about his own feelings before time could run out.

"That…." V began, "Is the most beautiful thing you could've ever given me…..For twenty years I could see only this moment…..Nothing else existed or mattered…..until I met you…..Then everything changed…..my life, my goals…..my wishes…."

"V….." Evey whispered, listening as he continued.

"I…..fell in love with you, Evey……Like I no longer believed I could…..Every day that drew this day closer made me understand…..that it wasn't blood I wanted….." V said, struggling to articulate his thoughts against the growing pain in his chest.

"What did you want?" Evey asked, her tears now flowing freely down her pretty face. She alone was crying for him, as no one else ever would.

"I w-wanted another chance……" V whispered.

"A chance for what?" Evey questioned.

"For roses…." V answered, his final words being breathed out with his dying breath.

"_For you._" V's spirit murmured, as he left his tortured shell behind, leaving Evey with the final task of his vendetta…..and a chance to start anew in a world that wasn't dominated by fear…..but by hope.

_**The End?**_

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**_Author's Note!_**

**_Yes, I do realize that I might get flamed for this, but this was a story that refused to leave me alone! I hope this was an okay story besides!_**

**_Gemini14_**


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